Trump's United States During the New Administration Seems Oddly Familiar to Observers from China

As the standup comedian, a rising performer, steps onto the stage in New York, she's not only considering which jokes to deliver. She also carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the government,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it's not captured for social media. “I'd never publish openly material in which I openly disparage the government … I think this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”

Wang, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending talks, protests, and exploring the city's library system.

But in the year since the president returned to office again, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “In China, I understood where the line was, while here I'm standing on shifting sands.”

Her concerns reflect a new political reality in America which many Chinese, or those with experience in China, perceive as eerily similar. Opponents face exclusion. The president expects total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Establishments come under fire.

Trump has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. Following years of optimism in America that closer ties with the East could assist the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it seems that the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.

“America is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to rally the masses in order to marginalize or weaken the elite … similar to what happened in China decades past.”

Since Trump initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, though without equivalent degrees of violence.

But after the turmoil of the initial period under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has emerged in the US, which variously seems familiar to numerous Chinese people.

‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’

The deepest similarity between the US today and the East is the crackdown on open expression.

Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in a controversy recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng resided in the US for several years, after escaping China due to pressure from officials.

In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs for expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.

“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in America – what should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.

Deng’s backlash originated from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but that kind of social surveillance also has similarities with China.

“In terms of going after those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something observed in China today as well,” she said, stating that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.

Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to America for political inspiration, since openly discussing domestic politics in the country is dangerous. But now, “The US is no longer some kind of god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined generally.”

“We used to see the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears less luminous”.

Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, seems to be declining.”

The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in US companies has prompted comparisons with the East, where the line between government and private industry is often blurred.

On Monday, authorities stated it will take an investor in a startup focused on rare earth processing, following similar stakes in additional firms it considers vital to the country's safety. The deals have left certain stakeholders concerned that the US is entering a new era of state intervention in private industry.

There are still major differences between Trump’s America and China. In October, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on approved news. US courts have halted or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, something that would be unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.

An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be more free, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”

The professor notes that although many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, who are selected by the government, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”

Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to take precautions previously confined to repressive regimes. One professor at a US university once outspoken on US-China issues declined to speak for this article. He said: “The truth is, I fear of suppression here: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad